Almost £200,000 worth of devices have been stolen from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) over the last five years, according to figures published today (7 June).
Details regarding the theft of laptops, tablets and phones were revealed following a request made under the freedom of information (FOI) act by the Parliament Street think tank.
A total of 208 electronic devices worth £190,000 have been reported as stolen since 2017, as well as a further £53,000 of items including network switches, cameras and a Rolex watch.
The news follows similar FOI-related findings last month, when it was revealed that the Cabinet Office – the department at the heart of the UK government, supporting both the prime minister and the cabinet – has reported almost 800 electronic devices as being lost or stolen in the past three years.
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“Large organisations naturally have a greater task of ensuring that devices are fully protected, and the vast number of interactions that happen at universities like LSE can increase the chances of devices being stolen or misplaced,” said Achi Lewis, area VP EMEA for security breach experts, Absolute Software.
“As such, it is essential that cybersecurity measures are put in place, such as resilient zero trust solutions, to restrict the access of malicious actors trying to breach stolen devices.”
In March, the government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey revealed that an overwhelming majority of universities (92%) had been targeted by cyber attackers in the previous year.
“Particularly in industries like the education sector, it is essential that staff, and even students, are properly trained on the key security issues at hand given the volume of sensitive data stored across devices,” added Lewis.
“Effective training will not only aid the prevention of breaches, but also assist staff and students on how to react once a device has been stolen.”